Cyborg With a Human Spirit
by EpicWerewolfOfDarkness
Summary: AU based on the story of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Genji is captured and taken from his brother and fellow members of Overwatch, and he must find a way to get back to them in Gibraltar. On his journey, he meets a new ally and finds true love. But Genji's journey home is not without its struggles.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:**

 **Music for this chapter: Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron - Wrangler Chase & Spirit Captured ****(Chapter starts around 0:47)**

 **The name of this fic may change later on, but I'm happy with it for now. *shrugs***

 **Alright guys. Here's the Gency AU based on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron that I promised on Tumblr a while back. :D**

 **The actual chapters are probably gonna be slightly longer than the prologue, but at least this is something. :) I'm so happy I've finally got this fic started, I might actually have the motivation to continue it now (as well as writing other fics and posting long-overdue drawings on DA and Tumblr).**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy :D**

 **Overwatch & characters (c) Blizzard Entertainment**  
 **Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (c) Dreamworks**  
 **AU & Fanfic (c) Me**

Looking back over his shoulder, his breathing quick as he ran in the direction of the Watchpoint, Genji could see no trace of the black-clad men that they had been fighting earlier.

 _Good. I must have lost them._

Inwardly, he sighed in relief.

It didn't take long for the buildings surrounding him to become more sparse, as the cliff concealing the Overwatch base loomed closer. As Genji's teammates came into view just outside the Watchpoint's concealed entrance, he sprinted the final distance and regrouped with them. His brother Hanzo acknowledged him with a small smile.

As the cyborg ninja took a moment to catch his breath and slow his rapid heartbeat, his friend, Jesse McCree, spoke up.

"You okay, Genji?"

"Yes, I am fine," Genji replied, still panting. His face, which did not have its usual helmet covering it, was bright red from the exertion.

Winston, the head of the group of Overwatch agents, addressed Genji as he continued to cool off.

"Genji. What's the situation?"

As his temperature regulation system kicked in, releasing air from the valves in his shoulders, the Japanese cyborg replied.

"I think we've lost them. They couldn't catch up with me."

Winston nodded. "Good work."

Genji smirked just a little before hearing faint noises behind him. Turning suddenly as the noises became louder, he realized.

 _Footsteps. Hoofbeats. Engines. I didn't lose them after all._

His eyes widened.

 _If I stay here, I'll lead them to the Watchpoint._

There was only one thing to do.

"Protect the Watchpoint," Genji urged the other agents. He started to run back in the direction of the sounds, which, as they continued to get louder, were unmistakably the people they fought earlier.

"Genji!"

Hearing Hanzo's cry behind him did not stop him. It only made him more determined to keep them safe.

Running forward, Genji could see the group of enemies in front of him. Some of them on foot, some of them on motorcycles, some of them even on horses. He didn't stop. Running faster, the cybernetic ninja cut straight through them and looked behind him.

"There he is! Get him!"

As they turned around and started after him again, Genji sighed in relief despite the situation.

 _If it's me they want, they won't go after the others._

As they continued to chase him, Genji effortlessly scaled the side of a building. Running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop after rooftop, he looked down on his pursuers.

"Up there!"

Leaping onto the next few roofs, the cyborg ninja realized that he had almost reached the edge of town. He was running out of buildings.

Taking a deep breath, Genji sprung onto the last roof and nimbly vaulted off of it, rolling through the air. Straight after hitting the ground, he was off again, this time evaluating his Plan B. Looking ahead, he thought quickly.

 _Up the rocks it is._

His breathing still fast and his heart still pounding in his chest, Genji turned to the right, prompting his followers to do the same. Running up the rocky surface in front of him, he turned his head behind him once more.

 _They're catching up._

Pushing himself harder uphill, Genji kept running. Some of his pursuers stumbled and crashed behind him.

 _Come on, Genji._

Dashing and leaping across the hard, uneven surface, littered with sparse vegetation, the ninja eventually realized he was coming to the edge of the cliff above the entrance to the Watchpoint, where his team had assembled earlier.

 _Kuso._

Looking behind him once more, he could see that the dark-clothed people following him were catching up. And fast.

Genji's fellow agents had noticed him by now, and he was running out of options. Casting another glance over his shoulder, he started to grow panicked.

There was only one thing he could do.

The Japanese cyborg steeled himself as he ran towards the edge of the cliff. Pushing himself off of the rocky ledge, he leapt through the air as time seemed to slow down. His pursuers would not be able to follow him off the edge, but Genji knew he would be able to land safely no matter how far the drop.

Or so he thought.

A second after he had jumped, Genji felt a rope wrap itself around his right arm. Suddenly, he was pulled back onto the rock, landing hard against the firm surface. Letting out a winded grunt, the cyborg tried to get up only to have another rope ensnare his right leg, bringing him to the ground once more. As he struggled against the ropes, which were now pulled tight, Genji felt another one secure itself around his other arm. No sooner had this happened than another rope came out of nowhere, this time around his neck. Gasping, he continued to struggle as the rope around his neck became tighter.

 _It's no use. You're going to strangle yourself._

Defeated, Genji lay there on his side near the edge of the cliff, surrounded by his unfamiliar captors. He heard one of the men sneer above him.

"Thought you got away, didn't you cyborg?"

Genji glared up at him, his teeth gritted angrily.

From below, he heard a cry.

"Genji!"

The cybernetic ninja turned his attention towards Hanzo's voice. Even from above, he could clearly see the concerned, upset looks on his teammates' faces.

But the worst were Hanzo and McCree. Hanzo looked as if he had tears of upset and anger in his eyes, and McCree looked shocked and scared for Genji's safety.

As Genji watched them, bound and helpless, Hanzo made to climb up the cliff face.

 _No._

"Brother, no!" Genji called out to him.

Hanzo paused.

"Genji, I won't lose you again."

"Hanzo, please!" Genji pleaded with him. "Don't worry about me. Go with Jesse and the others."

Shaking his head in sadness and despair, Hanzo accepted his brother's fate as he, McCree and the other agents turned away from him. Genji watched after them, upset, but knowing that they would be okay.

A sharp yank on the rope around the cyborg's neck brought him back to the reality of his current situation. As Genji was roughly hauled to his feet, the rope around his leg was untied. One of the men forcibly bound his wrists behind him, the rope almost, but not quite, cutting into the artificial muscle of his lower arms.

Genji glared once more at the man holding the rope around his neck, who was seated on a horse as dark as himself.

"Come on, cyborg. Let's get moving."

His last words were accompanied by a strong tug on the rope. Genji had no choice but to be led after him as the rest of his captors followed behind him and their leader.

He was scared, and he didn't know what was going to happen to him. But at least his brother and the rest of Overwatch were safe.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:**

 **Music for this chapter:**  
 **Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron - You Can't Take me  
Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron - Induction**

 **Chapter one of my Spirit Gency AU is up! :D I'm surprised how soon I managed to get this done after the prologue. Don't expect updates to be this regular in the future though, I'll probably get the next chapter started soon but I also have drawings and other stuff to get back to. But don't worry, I'll get this fic done no matter how long it takes :)**

 **Anyways, enjoy :D**

 **Overwatch, Genji (c) Blizzard Entertainment**  
 **Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (c) Dreamworks**  
 **AU & Fanfic (c) Me**

Genji couldn't tell how long they'd been travelling anymore.

His mind told him it was about a week, but to him it felt like the longest week he'd ever known.

His captors had taken him this far by their network of high-speed land and air travel, as well as on foot, and he was now headed towards an unknown destination. Genji no longer knew what country he was in, but from the scenery around him, which was mostly desert and mountains with the occasional building, he guessed he was somewhere in the Middle East.

A far cry from the Japanese and European surroundings he was used to.

After more long hours of forced trekking at the end of a rope, Genji noticed the large, unfamiliar building he was being led towards. It bore no sign on its front, but from the guards patrolling its perimeter and its uniform, intimidating appearance, the cyborg could tell it was some sort of military headquarters.

 _If this is what I think it is, they probably want to use me as a weapon._

Genji struggled against the ropes as he was forcefully led closer to the entrance of the large grey building. His efforts, however, proved futile. One of the men who had brought him here signalled to a guard, who slid open the wide metal door. The cybernetic ninja found himself being pulled through the entrance, and once inside, he heard the door slide shut behind him and his captors.

Looking behind him as he realized, Genji's eyes widened. His heart rate began to increase.

 _There's no turning back now._

The Japanese cyborg looked around him as he was led down the unfamiliar corridor. There were doors leading to unknown rooms on either side of him as he walked. From within these rooms, Genji could just about hear voices and mechanical, electronic sounds.

He had no idea what those sounds and voices meant, nor what this place was. All he knew was that he was a prisoner, and there was nothing he could do about that for now.

Moments later, Genji and his captors came to another door, which smoothly glided open before them. Upon entering this room, the cyborg ninja couldn't believe what he saw.

As the men and their captive came to a halt, Genji took in his surroundings. The space they were in was quite large and open, with only a few doors leading off it.

But that wasn't the important part.

In front of the captive ninja was a group of other cyborgs, all standing to attention in a military fashion. Some of them more visibly human than him, others the same amount. All of them male, with short-cropped hair, serious faces and brand marks visible on their bodies.

 _Seems I was right. I have to get out of here._

Even though it was pointless, Genji desperately began to struggle. He pulled away from his captors, the ropes digging into his neck and wrists, but he didn't care.

 _I have to try-_

The cyborg's thoughts were cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

"Well, what do we have here, gentlemen?"

Genji turned his attention towards the voice, and saw a stern-looking man in a dark grey uniform. The man holding the rope around Genji's neck roughly pulled him back into place.

"Another recruit, sir. A pre-made cyborg."

The man in the grey uniform stepped towards Genji, who wore a displeased scowl on his face. He looked him up and down, before taking the cyborg's metal chin in his hand and examining his face.

"Japanese, quite battle-worn by the looks of him... he's a fine specimen, alright."

 _"Specimen"._

Disgusted by the way these people were treating him, Genji sharply pulled his head away from the uniformed man's hold. He narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

The man wasn't fazed. Instead, he put his hand down and continued.

"I presume you have a name, cyborg."

Genji said nothing, only scoffed and turned his head away. A rough pull on the rope and a stern command forced his attention back to the man in front of him.

"Speak!"

"Genji," the cybernetic ninja spat. "Genji Shimada."

The uniformed man chuckled.

"Well Genji, you'll be of great use to us. I can already tell we're gonna have fun with you."

Genji only glared harder at him, his expression full of contempt.

The man in the grey uniform turned back to the other men.

"Induct him, gentlemen."

"Yes sir!"

Casting one last menacing look at the man, Genji was led towards a door at the far right side of the room. He was pulled through it into a fairly dark-coloured space, with what appeared to be various different workstations set all around the room. In front of the cyborg lay several white-grey benches, all equipped with various tools and objects, and all with chairs behind them. There were also, Genji noticed, women working in this room, something he hadn't seen in the other parts of the building he was in. They seemed to work at cleaning up the workstations, judging from the one Genji passed as he was led through the room.

He didn't like the look of this place. To him, it almost had the appearance of a torture chamber.

A moment later, Genji and his captors stopped at one of the stations, the one in the middle of the room. The rope around the cyborg's neck was swiftly untied, but his hands remained bound.

He soon figured out that there was a reason for this.

Pushing him forward, one of the men forced Genji into the hard chair in front of him. His hands now secured around the back of the seat, he was powerless to resist whatever was coming next.

Casting his eyes to the side, Genji saw a new, unfamiliar figure. A large man in a white lab coat, gathering up his tools of torture.

"I'll take care of him from here," the captive ninja heard the stranger say to the other men.

"Careful, he's put up a bit of a fight so far."

The white-coated man turned to face Genji and began to walk over to him, with what looked like a white barber's cape draped over one arm.

"Let's see how he fights when I'm done with him."

The next thing the Japanese cyborg felt was the cape being swiftly fastened around him, so tight against his neck that it felt as if it were choking him. Just like the rope earlier, Genji hated it.

When the man had done this, Genji continued to watch his actions beside him. The white-coated man wasted no time in picking up a large, sharp pair of shears and returning to where the cyborg sat, bound by the rope around his wrists and the cape around his neck. Standing in front of him, the man briefly looked Genji up and down. He snapped the scissor blades open and shut several times, smirking.

"You're gonna look so much better once I'm finished with you."

Genji said nothing, only narrowed his eyes at him. It wasn't that he was vain, or cared about his appearance _that_ much, but the way these people were treating him, they were already making him feel dehumanized.

The white-coated man snickered, amused.

A moment later, Genji felt the man grab a large section of his dark hair, near where it was parted. He raised the scissors and made to strike, but the Japanese cyborg decided he wasn't going to play nice. Taking advantage of the man's position in front of him, he kicked him sharply in the shin.

Cursing, the man held his leg in pain for a few moments. Genji looked on, pleased that his tormentor was suffering.

After a few moments, the white-coated man regained his composure.

"Want to play the hard way, do you?"

He signalled to the other men, who retrieved more rope from the workstation. The next thing Genji knew, both of his legs were tied to the legs of the chair, completely immobilizing all four of his limbs.

His limbs now fully restrained, Genji was powerless to resist as the man with the shears truly got down to work. He roughly took hold of the section of hair he was going to cut, except this time, there was nothing stopping him.

 _Snip, snip, snip._

Several large tufts of black hair fell in front of the cyborg's face as the man began his task in earnest. A moment later, Genji once more heard the harsh _snip, snip, snip_ of the hair shears as they continued to clip away the dark strands, cutting quite close to his scalp. He couldn't stand it. Even though the job was already started, he didn't want to let it continue.

As the white-coated man took another section of hair in his grasp, Genji jerked his head to the side, away from the man's hands. Taken by surprise, the man paused for a moment to reevaluate his strategy before beckoning to the others again.

A few moments later, the men retrieved what looked like a metal muzzle, not too dissimilar to the visor Genji wore when he was with Blackwatch. They forcibly placed it around Genji's nose and mouth and secured it somewhere on the bench behind him. The Japanese cyborg tried to move his head, but he found that he could no longer move it without a considerable amount of effort. Now he really was powerless.

The man in the white coat returned to his position in front of the restrained cyborg. He chuckled as he looked at him, bound, caped and muzzled.

"Now that should keep you nice and still."

Once more, Genji said nothing. He glared furiously at the man as he went to resume his work.

A moment later, Genji once again heard the harsh, recurring _snip_ of the shears atop his head as the white-coated man continued his task. A task which only served to strip the Japanese cyborg of his individuality and make him just another part of their system.

Genji hated the feeling of the man's hands and the metal blades on his scalp, and the feeling of the tufty black strands as they fell onto his face and the white cape in front of him. As his tormentor continued to shear away large sections of his hair, he was unable to resist. The only thing the cybernetic ninja could do was let the man get on with his work, however much he disliked it.

 _At least a haircut isn't the worst that can happen._  
 _  
But it will probably get worse..._

A few _snip_ s later, a thought occurred to Genji. Maybe he still had an option left after all.

As the man in the white coat moved over to the cyborg's left side, Genji felt him position the sharp scissors above his ear. Before the man could close the blades around the hair, Genji sharply shrugged his left shoulder upwards against the man's arm. The man recoiled and dropped the shears, not expecting his captive to fight back when he was now so firmly restrained.

Behind his muzzle, Genji smirked.

The white-coated man was really starting to run out of patience. Picking up the metal shears from where they fell, he called over the other men once again, his face visibly displeased.

"Do you want me to cut you with these?"

The man held the sharp implement in front of the Japanese cyborg's face. Genji just stared at him, his expression cold once more.

"Because if you keep moving, I might just have to."

Genji didn't flinch.

A moment later, the other men returned with more rope. Under the direction of the man with the shears, they bound Genji's upper arms together near the shoulder, pulling them backwards in a slightly uncomfortable way. Inwardly, Genji winced, but he wasn't about to show any signs of weakness to these people.

The man in the white coat smirked at the captive cyborg, who was now well and truly bound and restrained.

"I hope that's uncomfortable enough for you to let me finish my job," he snarled.

Genji said nothing. After all, by now there really was nothing he could do.

The next short while passed by with the man freely continuing his task. Genji still couldn't stand the feel of the man's fingers as they roughly grabbed sections of his hair and snipped it short in a quick, uncaring way. His head was forcibly pushed forwards when the back was being cut, which tightened the metal restraint over his face and made it more uncomfortable than it already was. In certain parts where his hair was already slightly shorter, the metal scissor blades felt too close for comfort against his skin. However, there was nothing the Japanese cyborg could do except sit and wait for his tormentor to be done with his work.

After a series of _snip_ s on the right side of his head, near where his hair was parted by a scar, Genji felt the white-coated man stop. The next thing he felt was a rough hand running through his shortened hair, causing the last few black strands to drift down onto the white cape. Inwardly, the cyborg grimaced. Like before, he hated it, although mercifully the part with the scissors seemed to be over.

After a few moments, the man returned to his original position in front of the cybernetic ninja, and surveyed his handiwork. Looking Genji directly in the eye, a smirk once more appeared on his face.

"I was right. You do look better with a good short haircut."

Genji said nothing, only looked directly back at him and stared with narrowed eyes. The man only snickered in amusement.

 _It probably only gets worse from here._

A moment later, Genji heard the man set the shears down on the bench to the side of him. After he had done this, the cape around the cyborg's shoulders was promptly unfastened, which, even in his current situation, was a slight relief. At least his neck was now free, even if the rest of him was still bound and tied. As the man shook out the white sheet and returned it to its place, Genji looked down. The floor around him was littered with tufts of jet-black hair.

Vanity was not a trait for which Genji was known, but at the same time, he didn't really want to know how he now looked. He was sure that his haircut would only be a reminder of these people and the inhumane way in which they had treated him.

He was also sure that as long as he was here, they would continue to treat him that way.

Genji continued to watch the white-coated man, who had moved over to his left, as he waited for his next move. The cyborg ninja wasn't sure what was going to happen to him next, but he was sure that it wasn't over yet. Casting a glance to his left, he could just about see the man as he readied his tools for what Genji presumed was the next step in removing his individuality. He couldn't see exactly what it was that he was doing, but he saw smoke and heard an ominous sizzling sound.

 _I don't like this._

After a few moments, the man walked back over to the captive cyborg with a metal rod in his hand, which was now gloved. The end of the rod glowed a bright red, and it hissed as it let off smoke. Upon seeing this, Genji realized what the man's intention was. His fears confirmed, his eyes widened and his breathing quickened.

 _They want to brand me as their property._

I won't stand for this. I have to do something.

The man in the white coat walked over to Genji's right side and looked over his captive for a few moments. He eventually settled his attention on a section of artificial muscle to the side of the cyborg's chest. Looking back at Genji's face, he gave a cruel, twisted smile.

"You're ours now, cyborg."

 _Not yet I'm not._

As the man made to strike with his hot weapon of torture, Genji pulled against his muzzle with everything he had. He could feel the man place his other hand above the area to be marked, and the heat of the iron as it was held near him. He was running out of time.

 _PULL._

Making one last effort, Genji strained and snapped the rope binding the metal restraint to his face. He turned his head to the white-coated man, who wore an expression of shock on his face. Taking advantage of this moment of distraction, Genji gave him a brief smirk before slamming his head into the man's face. The man fell backwards and dropped the metal rod, knocked out cold.

As the other men rushed to his tormentor's side, Genji smirked at the unconscious man for a moment before taking a deep breath. At least part of the battle was over, even if there were more things to come.

Looking to his far right, Genji saw two unfamiliar cyborgs who seemed to be new captive recruits, like him. He didn't know how long they had been there, but judging by the amused looks on their faces, they had seen at least part of Genji's battle. Still breathing quite heavily, he smiled triumphantly at them before hearing the voice of one of the men, who was trying to help the white-coated man on the floor.

"Maybe we should show him to his new 'accommodation'."

"No."

Genji turned his attention to his left, and saw the grey-uniformed man from earlier walk into his space. The man looked down at him, a stern, scrutinizing look on his face. The cyborg only stared back.

"I think it's time to show this cyborg some discipline."

"Yes sir."

As the man in the uniform walked away, Genji glared after him with narrowed eyes. One of the men roughly untied him from the chair and pulled him to his feet, and an unfamiliar female worker began to tidy up the floor. As he was led towards the next room, hands still bound behind him, Genji could only think one thing.  
 _  
You can try, but you're never going to break me._

 **Additional Chapter Notes (i.e. unimportant trivia):**

 **Part of the setting for this chapter was inspired by a dream I had shortly after coming up with this AU. The room where Genji receives his regulation haircut is based on the way it looked in that dream. On that topic, you might be wondering why they didn't give him a typical military haircut with a razor. I did play around with that idea while I was writing this, but I just wasn't feeling it. Scissors is closer to the source material this AU is based on, so I just went with that instead even if it doesn't make as much sense from a military viewpoint XD Creative license, am I right? ;)  
**


End file.
